It is interesting where our fears attach... Mine happened when starting my 3 year old Haflinger and he spied a blue canopy noisily blowing in the wind. (lessons #1, windy days are not particularly good for starting young horses!)
With no thought of my presence on his back he cantered us to the center of the arena, did a 'lovely' canter pirouette, and galloped us out of the arena exactly where we had entered. I was unseated into the tall grass.
It all happened so quickly that my loss of control nagged away until I found a special trainer WITH that special horse. The trainer put me on her 14.3hh, 17 yo mare in one closed off end of her enclosed arena. I felt "safe" because we couldn't go any further than one relatively small circle! Plus, this mare had a very smooth canter depart. The trainer even insisted we do this on a good weather day, so with everything arranged for a positive experience, a positive experience is exactly what I had! Doesn't it feel wonderful to overcome a fear!?!?
Update on blue canopies/tarps: yesterday I looked out a window to see Mr. Bob pulling the blue tarp off the wheelbarrow with his teeth. He had to shake his head several times to get the tarp loose. He then proceeded to drag it to a muddy spot (there are plenty right now), drop it and walk all over it!!! Of course I had to go out and retrieve the muddy trampled tarp. Mr. Bob regularly gets himself into these situations where I have to stifle a laugh and scold him -- it's just his engaging Haflinger personality! LOL
Judy in muddy NE TN
"sassyme808" <sassyme808@...> wrote:
>
> I think it takes a special trainer to work with someone who has had a loss of confidence. Lots of patience and empathy. My scary time is when I'm mounting, as that is when my accident happened. I fractured three vertebrae in my back, but luckily there was no spinal damage. As you know, it's hard to overcome the fear that takes deep root in your brain. My trainer confided that his "scary" moment comes when he's training a young horse and working up into a lope for the first time, as he's been bucked off at that time more than any other time. I spoke to another person who takes lessons from him, and her scary time is at dismounting. She had been dismounting a horse at one time and her clothing got hung up on the saddle horn. The horse panicked and drug her, breaking her shoulder in two places, her glasses broke and cut up her eyelid and side of her face........40 stitches worth. And yet, here we are, working through it and not giving up. Hooray for us!
> Marlene
>
> --- In haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com, K Garriott <kagarriott@> wrote:
> >
> > Woo-Hoo!
> >  Marleen, while I don't know you personally I have given lots of lessons to people struggling with all those same emotions. Not to brag but I was really good at it too, and that's because I was exactly at their same place at one time.
> > Â Â
> >  24 yrs ago a two yr old filly I owned and raised reared and flipped over backwards on me and broke my spine in two places. Left me paralyzed from the waist down for about 45 minutes besides the long recovery. So.. I KNOW how it feels to want to ride so badly with every cell in your body except those pesky self preservation ones.
> >
>
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